Cardiacephala conifera Hendel, 1933

Ferro, Gustavo Borges & Marshall, Stephen A., 2018, A revision of the Neotropical ant-like genus Cardiacephala Macquart, including Plocoscelus Enderlein syn. nov. (Diptera: Micropezidae, Taeniapterinae), Zootaxa 4429 (3), pp. 401-458 : 424-426

Cardiacephala conifera Hendel, 1933

( Figs. 33–36 )

Cardiacephala conifera Hendel, 1933: 217 .

Plocoscelus conifer (Hendel) , Hennig 1937: 49.

Plocoscelus haedulus Hennig 1935: 51 , Hennig 1937: 49.

Description: Body length 8 mm, wing 5 mm. Palpus mostly dark brown, white on outer face. Clypeus brown with

pale microsetulae. First flagellomere brown and covered with pale microsetulae. Row of katepisternal setae brownish. Fore tibia dark brown. Hind femur narrowly white basally. Fore tarsus dark brown with gold/whitish pubescence ventrally at base of tarsomere one. Oviscape brown with apex dark brown. Epandrium yellow.

Head: Palpus broadened basally and gradually tapering to apex. Clypeus short, length less than half of width. Two frontal setae. Vertex flattened. Frontal vitta slightly elevated until vertex. Inner vertical setae inserted in strong tubercles. Paracephalon swollen, conical. Black supracervical setae sparse, weak.

Thorax: Mesonotum with golden pruinosity. Notopleural setae strong. Posterior notopleural seta insertion slightly protuberant. Scutellum upturned, triangular. Femora with sparse black setulae. Mid and hind tibia flattened, but sulcus on outer face weak. Wing with incomplete apical pigmentation and three preapical darkened spots. Crossvein r-m with dark spot. R4+5 and M1+2 ending separately in wing margin. A1+CuA2 less than half as long as CuA2. Female cervical sclerite smooth, without swelling.

Abdomen: Tergites with sparse brownish setae. Female abdomen: Single spermathecal duct apically broad, basal half slightly tapered. Single spermatheca cylindrical. Paired spermathecal duct divided into a narrow basal half and a broader distal half. Paired spermathecal duct stems thin and smooth on basal third, apical two thirds with a large rounded swelling ( Fig. 34 ). Paired spermathecae spherical, somewhat flattened basally (almost disc-shaped) and deeply invaginated from apex to base. Male abdomen: Ejaculatory apodeme reduced, blade small and short, sperm pump wider than blade. Phallapodeme extending to anterior limit of hypandrium. Distiphallus long, longer than epandrium, ending in a phallic bulb, phallic bulb subequal in length and width.

Type material: Syntypes of C. conifera Hendel (2 ♀, NMW, probably lost): PARAGUAY. Aregua. No information about collector and date; Plocoscelus haedulus Hennig (1 ♀, MLUH): BRAZIL, Amazonas, Tefé. No information about collector.

Material examined: BRAZIL. Amazonas, 45 km E Tapuruquara, 23.I.1978, Norman D. Penny (1 ♂, INPA); Amazonas, Manaus, Reserva Ducke, 9.IX.1986, L.S. Aquino & U. Barbosa (1 ♀, INPA); Amazonas, Manaus, Est. AM 1 km 64, 28.VII.1970, A. Faustino ( INPA); Amazonas, Reserva Ducke, 14.II.1978, Jorge Arias ( INPA); Mato Grosso do Sul, Bodoquena, Fazenda California, 20º41’55.9” S 58º52’49.4” W, 6.XI.2011 (1 ♀, DZUP 341592, sequence MYCRO 237–16); COLOMBIA. Bolivar, SFF Los Colorados, La Suiris, 9º54’ N 75º07’ W, 126 m, 16– 30.XI.2000, E. Deulufeut M. 921 (1 ♀, IAVH); Magdalena, Tayrona Natl. Pk., Pueblito, 225 m, malaise trap, 4– 20.XII.2000, M. 965, R. Henriquez (1 ♀, IAVH); Magdalena, PNN Tayrona Pueblito, 225 m, 11º20’ N 74º02’ W, 1–19.IX.2000, M. 626, R. Henriquez (1 ♀, USNM); Vichada, PNN Tuparro Centro Administrativo, 5º21’ N 67º51’ W, 100 m, Malaise, 17–26.XII.2000, M. 1382, W. Villalba (1 ♀, USNM).

Distribution: Brazil, Colombia, Guiana, Paraguay.

Comments: The swelling on the inner vertical seta insertion and the paracephalon, in combination with three preapical dark spots and short A1+CuA2 on the wing, makes this species easily distinguishable. Hendel (1936: 65, Fig. 1 ) also provides an illustration of a C. conifera head.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Optimized characters on one of the 7 most parsimonious trees from the morphological dataset of Cardiacephala (Length=114, Ci=37, Ri=61), with black dots indicating nonhomoplasious changes and clear dots homoplasies. Character numbers and their different states are indicated above and below the dot, respectively.

FIGURES 33–36. Cardiacephala conifera. 33, female, dorsal view; 34, female genitalia, lateral view; 35, female, lateral view; 36, male genitalia, lateral view.